SINGAPORE - The Manpower Ministry handled about 80 cases of disputes each year between 2016 and 2021 that involved staff seeking re-employment beyond their retirement age and their employers.

These included claims of unreasonable denial of re-employment, and disputes over the terms of re-employment, as well as the amount of employment assistance paid to help tide workers over while they sought alternative employment, Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon told Parliament on Tuesday.

He was providing an update on the number, nature and outcome of re-employment disputes from 2016 to 2021, in response to questions by Workers' Party MPs Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) and Sylvia Lim (Aljunied GRC).

Dr Koh said about 90 per cent of the disputes were amicably resolved through a mediation process, and they included instances where the employee subsequently withdrew the appeal.

Mediation services are provided by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM).

"The remaining 10 per cent were either escalated to the Minister for Manpower for a decision on unreasonable denial of re-employment, or to the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) for disputes over re-employment terms or quantum of employment assistance payment," he added.

These cases, numbering about 10 a year, are decided by the Minister for Manpower or the tribunal, said Dr Koh.

Of these, about four each year were found to be substantiated and resulted in the employer compensating the employee, he said.

Only one such case, in 2018, involved a public sector employer, he added. Dr Koh did not reveal the employer's identity.

About six cases were dismissed each year due to lack of merit, he said.

He added that these cases could have involved employees failing to meet re-employment eligibility criteria due to unsatisfactory work performance, or the employer proving that there were no suitable vacancies for re-employment.

To avoid disputes over re-employment, Dr Koh said employers and employees should refer to the Retirement and Re-employment Act and the Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Employees.

Employers should also discuss possible re-employment arrangements with senior employees as soon as possible.

"Senior employees should also be open to alternative jobs and reskilling opportunities to improve their long-term employability," said Dr Koh.

In a subsequent exchange, Mr Giam asked if MOM could improve the reporting and appeals process to assist older workers who have experienced age discrimination.

Citing anecdotes of alleged age discrimination his residents had shared with him, Mr Giam said: "The fact that there are so few cases being adjudicated points to either (one of) two things: (that) there is very little age discrimination in Singapore or older workers are not confident that the process will achieve their desired results."

In response, Dr Koh said that the labour force participation in the older workforce has increased since 2011 to a level comparable to the top three countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

"So it shows that, actually, more employers are prepared to employ older workers and more older workers are also flexible enough and prepared to take on jobs and continue with employment."

In response to a supplementary question by Ms Lim on compensation for those who were unreasonably denied re-employment, Dr Koh said the amount paid out varies depending on the responsibility the employer and employee each bear.

He said there were some cases in which the employee had to bear some responsibility for not indicating interest to further the re-employment contract.

Beyond that, the amount depends on the employee's performance and length of service, among other factors.

"The health status of the employee is also to be looked into, because certain jobs will require a certain degree of medical fitness to continue and, therefore, it is not a one-size-fits-all type of calculation," said Dr Koh.